Image courtesy of fancyapint.com.
For this week’s Q&A we fantasized that the normal rules of physics didn’t apply and some fairy godmother of urban development had granted us a wish to transplant one business to Raleigh from another city. Once we got going we couldn’t shut up about the places we miss from the cities of our past, and many of us had a hard time picking just one.
You know the drill: See our answers below; tell us yours in the comments.
Acree
After living in Atlanta for the past few years it’s hard to avoid making unfair comparisons, especially regarding nightlife, but I trust that as Raleigh grows much of what I miss from the big city will evolve here. So only one truly irreplaceable business comes to mind: Jake’s Ice Cream Shop. In my under-21 years, friends and I would cram into the hallway-sized Jake’s down our street several nights a week for a quick study break and end up spending half an hour tasting flavors as strange as Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. Some personal favorites were Mexican Hot Chocolate—which was, I swear, spicy—and Key Lime Piescream. I never had the pleasure of trying Coffee & Donuts, but I would bet you a cone it tastes exactly like a glazed donut dipped in coffee. Customers can even suggest ideas for new flavors. Jake’s homemade ice cream and relaxed atmosphere are a refreshing relief from franchised shops where the flavors range from sugary to more sugary, and the décor consists of fluorescent lighting and chrome chairs.
When a chain replaced my neighborhood Jake’s, I discovered their much larger location in downtown Decatur that occupied an old house on a residential side street. You ordered your ice cream or coffee in the front area of the house, then wandered back through the many sitting rooms to recline in the book-lined library by the fireplace, play a board game at an old card table in the room wallpapered with maps, or bang out a song on the piano upstairs. If one of the rooms had housed a wardrobe that led to Narnia, Jake’s would have satisfied all my childhood fantasies.
Sadly, that Jake’s eventually moved as well, hooking up with an independent children’s bookstore on a main drag in downtown Decatur. The locations I remember are gone forever, and perhaps I’m past the age of being enchanted by ice cream shops, but I’d still jump up and down like a college freshman if one of those old Jake’s popped up in Raleigh.
Jedidiah
Because I can’t narrow it down to one business, I’ll mention three businesses that all share a theme of art and alcohol.
Kingsland Road in Shoreditch used to be one of the dirtiest streets of London. A few years ago, it flipped 180 degrees and became the hippest area in town. Leading the way was a very discrete bar called Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes. Created by knocking down a wall between two old retail stores and leaving the original signs, Jagbags, as we used to call it, was a haven for artists, music lovers and drinkers alike. Each month the bar completely re-renders the interior and transforms it into an art installation. Each night a different DJ comes to play, and the space morphs from relaxing daytime art lounge to dark disco den: a place to sit and think; a place to dance and drink. There’s even a kabob shop next door that’ll bring your take-out order to the bar for you. Bickett Gallery had dreams of being such, and some days it was, but not any longer. Let’s bring back the art disco den to Raleigh, this time in the urban setting.
There’s an unassuming shop in Paris called Colette that sparks trends in a way that puts Wootini to shame. Some would call it the store of the future. From music to vinyl figurines to coffee and clothing, Colette has what every design lover would want in a store. Say you see a CD on the wall that you want to buy but would like to listen to first; Colette has just what you need. You don’t take the CD to the counter for assistance, you simply walk over to the iPods hanging from the adjacent wall; they have every album in the store programmed on them. Time and space saved, unique experience created. Downstairs is also a coffee shop and upstairs is a clothing store. Colette’s stock turns over almost weekly and, more than likely, you’ll want to buy everything in the store months before you see it anywhere else. You know that kitschy gift section of Urban Outfitters that everyone loves? It’s probably modeled after Colette.
We may be getting a Contemporary Art Museum in the Warehouse District but what Raleigh really needs is a museum space like the ICA in London. Located on the mall in London just 100 yards from Buckingham Palace, the ICA can’t decide what it wants to be, so it is everything: bookshop, independent theatre, art gallery, music venue, restaurant, lecture hall, bar and club, performing exceptionally well at each. The space constantly changes, so each time you come to the museum you have no idea what you’re getting into. Maybe you’ll have to crawl through a tunnel to see the art. Maybe televisions will be hanging from the ceiling in the bar. Maybe the art is actually the people in the space. Maybe you’ll see a film. Maybe you’ll buy a book on pop art or Nietzsche. Maybe you are just there to hear a lecture or read a newspaper while having a couple of beers and a soup and sandwich. All this in a building smaller than what CAM will be. It is also where I watched the 2004 US election results come in, as they hosted an election watch party.
Aislinn
Image courtesy of Visit Hillsborough.
I’d like to see a locally owned grocery store come to Raleigh that focuses on local, organic and sustainable products. I don’t have a particular business in mind, I just wish I could get organic groceries and local produce year-round without spending an arm and a leg—people don’t call a certain Wade Avenue business Whole Paycheck for nothing. I want somewhere I know any premium I pay for these specialty goods will circulate back through the local economy instead of getting funneled to a distant headquarters.
Nearby examples include Chapel Hill’s Weaver Street Market and the newly forming Durham Central Market. Come on Raleigh, let’s get with the program. Ever since Noah’s Food Coop died in 1996, we’ve been at the mercy of a national chain. I heard about a Raleigh Food Coop mobilizing a few years ago, but it seems to have fizzled. Let’s join the rest of the Triangle and have some consumer choice in our sustainable eating habits.
Rusty
From a city where folks work with their hands comes a restaurant for folks who know how to eat. Slyman’s Restaurant in Cleveland makes what is arguably the best corned beef sandwich on the planet. The restaurant is nationally known, and for good reason. Never have I visited the city without making time to stop in for a sandwich. (Corned beef, original style, is the way to go.) The take-out line always reaches out the front door and around the block. You’ll be served with sixteen ounces (you read that right, a full pound) of the most succulent, slow roasted, mouth-watering red meat you’ve ever tasted. If the Slyman family could be persuaded to open one in Raleigh, you can be sure that the business suit and the construction worker alike will have a new favorite lunch destination.
Ladye Jane
My wish has been granted. The business that I would transplant from another city is currently in the works here in Raleigh, and The Flying Biscuit Cafe looks like it is set to open soon. If you are not familiar with the Atlanta eatery (which also has a Charlotte location), then prepare yourself for one of the best breakfasts/brunches you have ever had. Being a southern girl, I am very picky about my grits and biscuits, and this place has hands down the best biscuits AND grits I have ever eaten. Not only do they serve their breakfast all day, but they also have an eclectic offering of sandwiches and other goodies like hummus, black bean quesadillas, and fried green tomatoes. The new location is a few doors down from the Cameron Grill in Cameron Village, and I will literally be waiting at the door the day it opens.
View their full menu at www.flyingbiscuit.com and get a taste of what you’re in for.
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